Not just the government's job

After the levee failures in Hurricane Katrina, every metro area resident ought to understand the importance of caring for and maintaining flood protection levees.

But some residents in East Jefferson are too lazy or too self-centered to have learned that lesson -- and they need to get with the program.

Some people there have dumped their Hurricane Gustav debris and household trash on levees maintained by the East Jefferson Levee District. The problem has gotten so bad that levee officials are having to remind residents that trash and debris should be placed on the curb in front of their homes, not dumped behind homes that back up to the levee.

Some property owners are even heaving full trash bags over their back fences, officials said. Others are hauling tree limbs and other debris from their yards to the nearby flood protection structures.

It's disturbing that residents who live near the levees -- and thus have daily reminders of the importance of flood protection -- are engaging in this behavior.

The dumping is a problem not just because of aesthetics or its threat to public safety. Levee workers are having to spend time and resources collecting the trash instead of tending to the levees themselves. Even more worrisome, levee officials said they would rather not have to drive on the levees while they remain wet from Gustav's heavy rains.

The same illegal dumping took place after Katrina, and officials are concerned the practice will become routine after every storm if they let it fester. They should not.

Louisiana laws prohibit dumping trash on public property, and law enforcement needs to crack down hard on those doing so along the levees. The law allows for fines ranging from $50 to $5,000, as well as between four and 10 hours of community service and even jail time for up to 30 days, among other penalties.

Unfortunately, the illegal dumping is not the only example of individual residents neglecting levees after Katrina. Since that storm, officials and residents in parts of Jefferson, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes have complained about people riding all-terrain vehicles on levees. The off-road vehicles can cut deep ruts into earthen levees and eventually cause problems that could lead to serious flood risks.

The riders of those vehicles -- just like those residents now dumping debris and trash on the levees -- did not stop to think how their actions could hurt them and others protected by the levees.

Officials and other residents protected by those levees should not tolerate such selfish attitudes.